The eRosita telescope's survey, led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics with significant contributions from LMU Munich, has refined our understanding of the universe, aligning with the cosmological standard model and offering insights into neutrino mass and dark energy. Prof. Dr. Daniel Gruen contributed to calibrating measurements through weak gravitational lensing, a global effort that has helped resolve the S8 tension by providing a more accurate picture of the universe's total matter and its distribution. This breakthrough, indicating a high precision match with cosmic microwave background measurements, marks a significant step in cosmology, potentially easing concerns over previous discrepancies in the field.

Prof. Dr. Ryan Riordan explores the impact of high-frequency trading (HFT) on financial markets, focusing on its role in events like the 2010 flash crash. Initially suspecting HFT as a destabilizing force, Riordan's research reveals its capacity to reduce market noise and enhance price discovery, despite the risks posed by its rapid execution speeds. His work underscores the importance of balancing technological advancements in trading with effective regulation to prevent manipulation and ensure market stability. Through meticulous analysis, Riordan contributes to the understanding of HFT's complex dynamics and its entrenched position in modern securities trading.

Prof. Dr. Carsten Schwemmer, holding the Computational Social Sciences chair at LMU, delves into how social disparities can be illuminated through data mining in this new profile. His research reveals hidden discrimination, exemplified by a study on carpooling platforms where individuals with migration backgrounds had to significantly lower prices to attract riders, solely due to their names. Schwemmer, a pioneer in the emerging field of computational social sciences, combines technical expertise from computer science with sociological inquiries to analyze complex social phenomena.

In a portrait of the newly appointed Chair of Programming Languages and Artificial Intelligence Prof. Dr. Johannes Kinderhighlights the indispensable role of human skill in enhancing software security, stressing that comprehensive system protection is crucial to prevent malware spread across interconnected devices. In his research he focuses on creating automated tools for software analysis and leveraging machine learning to differentiate between safe and malicious software.

Prof. Dr. Sahana Udupa, Professor of Media Anthropology at LMU, together with Dr. Michiel Baas and Prof. Dr. Peter Hervik are calling for chapters for their forthcoming "Handbook on Anthropology and Artificial Intelligence," contracted with Edward Elgar Publishing. This handbook aims to be a comprehensive anthology on the anthropological study of AI, inviting contributions that cover empirical research, theoretical advancements, and methodological explorations in AI. The call seeks to gather a diverse array of insights from original ethnographic work to conceptual and theoretical developments in the field.

In a guest lecture on 11 March 2024 from 18:15 to 19:45, Prof. Dr. Jong Chul Ye from KAIST will present innovative methods to address challenges in using diffusion models for solving inverse problems, focusing on 3D extension and measurement ambiguities. Ye is an Endowed Chair Professor at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School AI of the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea. 

Accurate inference of complex physical models from large amounts of telescope observations is an area of increasing importance across the entirety of astrophysics. Researchers at LMU's University Observatory studying everything from the scale of the entire universe to the scale of potentially life-harboring planets around other stars have recognized the benefits of sharing methods and caveats in this inference process, particularly in applications of artificial intelligence. An interdisciplinary seminar at 9:15am on Thursdays will run for the remainder of the academic year, including researchers from astrophysics and invited speakers on AI and inference across LMU and the wider Munich research environment. Anyone with an interest in this type of inference is invited. Students who wish to present their work or a general related topic are welcome and can receive a certificate. Please contact Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng, Prof. Dr. Daniel Gruen and Dr. Leo Gkouvelis for more information.